


Precious

by jacklles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, One Shot, Romance, Self Harm, its at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 15:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacklles/pseuds/jacklles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane was nothing special. There was no one in her life that was special. There was nothing about her life that was special. Nothing, at least, until she fell for Niall Horan….literally too.</p>
<p>Or the one where an unsuspecting thief turns into a matchmaker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Precious

**Author's Note:**

> Hola amigos I got the inspiration for this walking down the street and imagining if Niall had bumped into me and it took off from there. There is referencing to self-harm at the end, so if it could be triggering for anyone please do not read! This is my only story that has that, mainly because I like writing fluff better than angst haha, but this one was still pretty fluffy. Even though it is set in London, it could be AU if you wanted it to be, I left most of Niall's background ambiguous because I couldn't decide either way :P  
> But read and I hope you like it!

_It was a sunny day on the streets of London. There were two people walking along the side of the road. One of them, a hooded figure, suddenly jumped in front of the other young man walking down the street. The man was taken by surprise and had no time to react when the dark shape deftly swiped his wallet and pushed him hard to the ground and took off in the opposite direction. The man scrambled to his feet and started chasing after the guy, yelling, “HEY, COME BACK HERE!” in a thick Irish accent. The bandit was sprinting down a dark alley and the man quickly followed suit. Not seeing a young woman slowly walking, the man slammed into her, and his momentum sent her flying to the ground. The man almost immediately realized what he had done and knelt down to the woman, ready to apologize._

"I-I’m so sorry miss! A-are you alright?" Niall spoke the last part gently; he immediately moved beside her and he raised his eyes to meet hers.

At the sight of those two pools of melted chocolate Niall experienced what a lot of people would call “love at first sight,” but the feelings that were unexpectedly rushing through him were so much more than that. When he looked into the girl’s eyes, he didn’t just see her pupils, her eye color, or even the shock and slight resentment of being pushed to the ground.

He saw the pain, the aching sadness, the loneliness. But what was most heartbreaking for him was how desperation for someone to care about her silently screamed at him. What Niall felt more than anything was the overwhelming desire to take care of this girl.

`~`

His thumb started stroking her shoulder almost of its own accord, and Jane for the life of her could not focus. She felt incredibly flustered; one, because of the sudden action when only moments before she was just walking home to her apartment from school, two, because this male was giving her his undivided attention. And it wasn’t just any hobo off the street either; it was a young guy with thick, wavy, auburn hair and big blue eyes.

She was staring wide-eyed at him with her mouth open, not responding to his question. Once she got over the shock of having male attention that wasn’t from her family though, she discovered that her shoulder was practically on fire from where the guy’s thumb was softly and methodically caressing her bare skin.

Jane had never had a boyfriend. She had never been kissed, so this was an entirely new experience for her, and she could simply not handle so much intimate contact with such an attractive man. Jane blinked several times, trying to form the words to answer his question, and only succeeding in saying something that sounded like, “canyoupleasetakeyourhandoffmyshoulder?” but it sounded a lot more jumbled together.

`~`

Niall squinted in confusion, trying to make out what she had quickly mumbled. Realizing what his hand was doing, Niall stopped the motion and moved his hand to instead brace himself on the ground.

"I’m sorry; I didn’t realize I was doing it." Niall was caught off guard at how her eyes made him want to wrap her up in a hug and never let her go. They made him want to tell her she was beautiful and special and that he would take care of her for the rest of her life. Her eyes made him want to wipe away at the tears that were slowly pooling in them. They made him want to love, care, and cherish her…and he didn’t even know her name.

"But are you alright? I didn’t mean to run into you." Niall was so mesmerized by her eyes that by the time he finally looked at the rest of her he mentally kicked himself. When Niall had accidently knocked her over, she had scraped herself up pretty badly. The girl had a cut on her cheek, scratches on her hands and two deep gashes on her knees.

"Ah dang, you’re not okay! Does it hurt terribly love? Here let me see your cheek." Niall practically crooned at her. He took off his jacket and was using the soft cloth to dab at the blood slowly oozing down her face.

`~`

The boy furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he delicately wiped the blood away from Jane’s face and all Jane could do was stare. Was this an angel? Because only angels do stuff like this. 

"I-I am a nurse you know. I can do this by myself." Jane whispered, finally able to find her voice again.

`~`

Niall paused in the middle of his work, and his dark blue eyes met hers. “I mean,” she rushed to explain, “I don’t want to be any trouble-” but Niall shushed her at once by placing a finger on her lips. She fell silent at once, staring at him with wide eyes, her lips quivering slightly.

"You, darling, will never be trouble to me. Do you understand that?" at the girl’s minute nod Niall removed his finger and grinned a little as the girl let out a huge sigh of relief. "Besides, I have a feeling that you are in need of someone to take care of you for once in your life. Now, let’s crack on shall we? First things first though. What, my love, is your name?"

`~`

Jane’s cheeks burned hot as she blushed at the question. She wasn’t used to someone who was so interested in knowing who she was.

All her life she was swept aside.Discarded.

Treated like she was a nuisance; like her very existence didn’t matter at all.

She was right smack dab in the middle of 11 brothers and sisters, and she always seemed to get lost in the mix. She wasn’t the loudest, prettiest, thinnest, smartest, hardest working, most artistic, most athletic or even the quietest. Yes she was quiet, but Valerie and Henry were too. Besides, Valerie was valedictorian and Henry was a master at painting while Jane wasn’t good at anything. Kids in elementary and middle school would call her “Plain Jane” and Jane had begun to believe it. She was nothing special; she would never excel at anything, no matter how hard she tried. She would be fully and completely mediocre until the day she died.

That’s why she was now 23 and in nursing school. Jane figured it would be a good way to do what she does best; blend in. And it was, barely anyone there knew she even existed and she liked it that way. It was better because otherwise they would find out how exceedingly unremarkable she really was.

Jane suddenly realized she hadn’t answered him and she said softly, “Jane. My name is Jane.”

`~`

"Well Jane, it’s an immense pleasure to meet you, I’m Niall. Though I do say I had hoped it wasn’t under these conditions, you all bloodied up and me without a wallet." Niall smiled as Jane gasped in shock and indignation.

"Did that guy steal your wallet? Did you have anything important in it?" Jane lived in an apartment complex that was cheap, but not the safest place in the world. She was all-too familiar with the experience Niall was facing and she hoped he hadn’t lost anything too essential.

Niall shrugged. “Nothing I can’t live without. Just some money and a couple credit cards.” he said unconcernedly.

Jane raised her eyebrows skeptically, “How much money?”

"Ah, about 130 pounds I guess…does it matter?"

`~`

Jane’s jaw dropped open in shock. How could he be so blasé about so much money?! If that happened to her, she would’ve definitely sat down and had a good cry-fest over the fact that she had just had half of her weekly salary taken away from her.

Either Niall was super loaded or he was way too carefree about his funds. At seeing Jane’s astonished face Niall gave her a small smile and said seriously, “I’m still alive aren’t I? I think that’s better than being a rich dead person. Anyway, are we almost to your place? Can you stand up?” at Jane’s questioning look, Niall explained, “I would like to walk you home and clean you up more thoroughly. You have a first-aid kit right?” Jane nodded silently, her mouth hanging open a little, and Niall smiled at her again, enjoying the experience of helping someone else out. Niall slowly got up, supporting Jane by wrapping an arm around her waist and putting her arm over his shoulders.

"Is this comfortable? Will you be able to walk home like this?"

"This is perfect," Jane breathed, then blushed immediately as what was supposed to remain in her head, slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Niall glanced side-long at her, grinning with raised eyebrows.

"You must be easy to please if this is perfect," he laughed and affectionately squeezed her waist briefly. Jane could feel the warmth of Niall’s strong arm around her waist and at his tightened grip she stumbled slightly, which caused his arm to stiffen even more.

Jane couldn’t handle the feeling that her thin cotton dress was the only thing separating her and Niall’s skin. Desperate, then, to clear her head of the warm, fuzziness that descended upon her of the thought of his arm touching her bare waist, Jane blurted, “I think I can balance on my own, thank you very much.”

Niall’s head shot up and he loosened his grip around her; still unwilling to let her go completely. He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, not willing to tell her how hurt he was. Jane quickly stepped out of his arms and kept her arms to her sides, her hands in the pockets of her dress. She looked at him through her eyelashes and noticed the hurt expression on his face. She sighed quietly, knowing she will have to explain herself and not looking forward to it at all.

"I-I can’t focus when you touch me, I’m sorry. I know you were just trying to help, but I would like to have intelligent conversation with you on the way home, and for some reason when you touch me, my mind goes blank and I can’t think properly." She murmured shyly, looking at the ground in shame.

`~`

Niall let that sink in as they walked in silence for a few moments. To be completely honest, her confession only made his rapidly developing feelings for her to grow even more intensely. Niall could already tell that Jane was special. He knew that she didn’t think so and that only served to convince him that he wanted to get to know her better. Niall actually was in such deep thought, trying to figure out exactly what his feelings for Jane were, that by the time they had arrived at Jane’s apartment, Jane had to practically yell in his face to snap him out of his daze.

"Wha-OH! Man, I didn’t realize-" he started, then just grinned sheepishly at her, simply saying, "so much for intelligent conversation eh?" making a sweeping gesture inside her apartment, "ladies first." Jane curtsied adorably and stepped into her small, but neat apartment.

 ”Well, this is it. Not much, but it is mine.”Jane said as she walked to the middle of her home and spread her arms wide open, letting them fall after a moment with a little shrug of her shoulders. 

Niall followed her, looking around with interest. The room they had stepped into was the living room that had a bookshelf crammed with novels of every size and color in the far corner and a tweed sofa on the opposite wall. Both pieces of furniture looked worn, but well-loved. Before Niall could properly make out the rest of her place, he turned to her, putting his hands on both of her shoulders and gently setting her down on her couch.

"You stay put; you’ve been on your feet long enough in the state you’re in-"

"-Niall I’m not a cripple I can get the first-aid kit without your help-" Jane protested, interrupting him midsentence.

"-and you can tell me where the medical supplies are. And if you move from that couch I’ll…I’ll…I don’t know what I’ll do, but you won’t like it okay?" Niall had completely ignored her, plowing on and trying his best to look menacing. Jane smiled inwardly at his pitiful attempt, but obeyed nonetheless.

"It’s a white box with a red cross on it in the hall closet, you can’t miss it."

Niall disappeared around the corner and Jane winced after a few moments of silence as she heard a loud crash and Niall curse quietly in what sounded like Gaelic, “Are you alright? I told you I should’ve just gotten it myself.”

Niall grunted noncommittally and walked into Jane’s line of sight with her white plastic first aid kit and a slowly growing goose egg on the top of his head. Jane immediately sprang up from her seat on the couch, forgetting her promise to stay where she was. But before she could resort to nurse mode and inspect his forehead for any other signs of damage, Niall redirected her hands to face palms upwards.

He sighed quietly as he saw the scrapes were bright red with chunks of dirt in them. “In order for me to properly clean your hands I’ll need for you to take off those bracelets, love.” Niall gestured to the many layers of braided yarn and rubber bracelets she had on her arms.  

`~`

Jane’s stomach dropped suddenly in apprehension and she eyed her wrists nervously, “Um, I don’t know, you’ll be able to clean them without me taking these off won’t you?” Jane really did not want him to see what was underneath the mass of yarn and rubber.

"Jane honey, no I can’t. Please just take them off okay?" Niall pleaded with her. Jane sat down again and tried to remove the many bracelets covering the one thing shedidn’t want Niall to see, unfortunately her hands were trembling too much and she gave up, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"There’s too many, they’re too tangled together; I can’t do it. I’m sorry."

"Aw that’s alright babe, I’ll do it for you," Niall slowly and carefully removed each bracelet one by one. Jane held her breath as the last few were taken away, showing the red scars that glowed in stark contrast with her pale arms. Jane quickly squeezed her eyes shut, desperate not to cry and hoping more than anything that Niall wouldn’t reject her because he thought she was some weak girl who had self-esteem problems.

As Niall took in the bright crimson, thin scars neatly lining her wrists Niall’s heart sank and he sighed, “Oh Jane. Oh dear, sweet Jane…”

At the sound of her name Jane let a strangled sob escape from her mouth, “I-I know I shouldn’t e-e-especially with me knowing h-how dang-e-erous it is and all, but sometimes I w-wonder, who would notice if I suddenly w-w-wasn’t there? A-a-and-“

Jane stopped as Niall bent down and softly, oh so tenderly kissed each scarlet line, tears silently streaming down her face and dripping off the tip of her nose. Once he was done, Niall sat on the couch next to her and gently moved her onto his lap, positioning her so that he was cradling her in his arms. The whole time Jane was quietly crying, both at how lonely she’d felt all her life and at the sudden and unexpected love and care she was receiving from this boy she didn’t even know. Instinctively Jane turned her head into his chest, snuggling closer to him and tightly clinging to his T-shirt.

`~`

Niall was then more certain of one thing than he had been of anything else in his life. He was certain that though they had just met and barely knew each other; he loved the beautiful creature that was sobbing on his lap and that he wanted more than anything to make her smile and laugh. He wanted to make her feel loved and special and treasured above anything else. Niall stroked her hair lightly, wanting to comfort her but ultimately not knowing how.

After a few moments of contemplation, he settled on singing to her, “ _You’ll never love yourself half as much as I love you, and you’ll never treat yourself right darling but I want you to. And if I let you know, I’m here for you, maybe you’ll love yourself like I love you oh._ ”

`~`

At the sound of his voice, his beautiful, _angelic_  voice, Jane paused in crying, sniffling loudly. She situated herself so that one ear was facing up, wanting to hear more.

`~`

Niall noticed that his singing was making her stop crying, so he kept going, “ _You come to me with scars on your wrists you tell me this will be the last night you feel like this…this is the last night you’ll spend alone I’ll wrap in my arms and I won’t let go I’m everything you need me to be_.”

Jane whimpered a little and Niall’s heart felt like it was ripping out of his chest; he swore to himself that if he ever met any of those people who made her resort to self harm he would tear them apart limb from limb.

`~`

Jane eventually stopped crying and Niall kept her in his arms until she fell asleep. Just as she was drifting off, Jane drowsily relived her day and was (quite tiredly) overwhelmed. She was so grateful for Niall, for this boy; this boy with auburn hair and big blue eyes.

This boy that she didn’t even know.

And all because he made her feel….precious.

Niall had lived up to his promise too, he spent the rest of his life making Jane feel like a princess, and he was forever thankful to the hooded figure for introducing him, however unconventionally, to the most incredible girl in the world.


End file.
